The invention relates to a conveying arrangement for the takeover and transfer of printed products, the arrangement comprising a feed conveyor for successively transporting separate printed products to a takeover region and an intermediate conveyor for transporting the printed products from the takeover region to a transfer region, provided with a plurality of conveying elements along a continuously circulating track, which are designed to grip the individual printed products and transport these products from the takeover region to the transfer region where they can be transferred to a different transporting device. In the low performance range, the printed products can be transferred without the intermediate conveyor directly to the containers, for example to pouches or conduits. At higher speeds, however, the printed products can roll up or bounce back during the insertion, thus interrupting further processing. Thick products or stacks of products will impact with the containers owing to their high weight and the high speed.
Conveying arrangements of this type have long been known in the print processing industry. One such conveying arrangement is known, for example, from European Patent Document EP-A-1 234 791, in which the intermediate conveyor is provided with a plurality of circulating compartments that can open up when approaching a feed conveyor and can close for the further transport of the printed products. The feed conveyor is a transporter provided with suspended clamps that will open up in the aforementioned approach region. In the transfer region, the compartments of the intermediate conveyor are opened so that the printed products drop freely into the pouch-type receiving elements of an inserting machine.
European Patent Document EP-A-1 270 476 discloses a conveying arrangement where the printed products are removed from a stack with the aid of a traction mechanism and are supplied to an inserting machine that is provided with a plurality of pouches. The traction mechanism includes jointly operating pairs of rollers, between which the printed products are gripped and then released to the pouches in a transfer region.
European Patent Document EP-A-0 380 921 discloses an arrangement for taking over and transferring printed sheets or signatures, using an intermediate conveyor that is also provided with a plurality of clamps that are opened in a transfer region. The intermediate conveyor is embodied as a wheel and is provided along the periphery with a plurality of compartments, which are opened up in the transfer region, so that the products can drop freely into the pouches of an inserting machine.
The problem with the aforementioned conveying arrangements is that at extremely high speeds the printed products are not released carefully to the containers, which can cause the printed products to roll up and result in a delayed and unsatisfactory positioning of these printed products in the containers.